View source for Constitutional dictatorship

{{short description|Dictatorship that is constitutionally granted in an emergency}}
{{Forms of government}}

A '''constitutional dictatorship''' is a form of [[government]] in which [[dictatorial]] powers stem from and remains limited by the [[constitution]].<ref>{{cite book | url=https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315080536 | doi=10.4324/9781315080536 | title=Constitutional Dictatorship | date=2017 | last1=Rossiter | first1=Clinton | last2=j. Quirk | first2=William | isbn=978-1-315-08053-6 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | url=https://doi.org/10.1017/S0841820900000291 | doi=10.1017/S0841820900000291 | title=The Dilemmas of Dictatorship: Carl Schmitt and Constitutional Emergency Powers | date=1997 | last1=McCormick | first1=John P. | journal=Canadian Journal of Law & Jurisprudence | volume=10 | pages=163–187 | url-access=subscription }}</ref> The dictatorship usually is granted to someone in times of emergency, such as in [[Ancient Rome]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.livius.org/articles/concept/dictator/ | title=Dictator - Livius }}</ref> 

==History==
===Roman dictatorship===
The [[Roman Republic]] made provision for a [[Roman dictator|dictator]] who could govern unchecked for a stipulated period of time. Unlike other [[Roman magistrate|magistrates]], a dictator was not subject to review of his actions at the conclusion of his term.<ref>[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Dictator.html A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, John Murray, London, 1875.], Dictator</ref>

===Examples of constitutionally granted powers===
[[Abraham Lincoln]], President of the United States during the [[American Civil War]], exercised extraordinary powers to preserve the Union. Lincoln's dictatorial actions included directly ordering the arrest and detention of Confederate sympathizers and the suspension of the right to [[Habeas corpus in the United States|writs of ''habeas corpus'']]. [[Thomas DiLorenzo]] viewed that Lincoln abused such power for his political advancement, and that such usage was potentially ruinous to liberty.<ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TcbR_pf71cMC&dq=thomas%20dilorenzo&pg=PA12 | title=Lincoln Unmasked: What You're Not Supposed to Know About Dishonest Abe | isbn=978-0-307-49652-2 | last1=Dilorenzo | first1=Thomas J. | date=21 January 2009 | publisher=PRH Christian }}</ref>

The [[Weimar Republic]], which succeeded The [[German Empire]] after the [[First World War]], adopted a [[Article 48 (Weimar Constitution)|constitutional provision]] that expressly enabled the president to rule by decree, without consultation with the legislative branch. That provision was used by Chancellor [[Adolf Hitler]] to consolidate his powers upon his selection by President [[Paul von Hindenburg]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/article-48 | title=Article 48 }}</ref>

US President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] also exercised extraordinary powers in response to the [[Great Depression]] and the [[Second World War]]. Roosevelt's actions included the closing of banks, and a moratorium on [[foreclosure]]s. Later, meeting a perceived threat by Japanese nationals and Japanese-Americans, Roosevelt ordered their [[internment of Japanese Americans|relocation to internment camps]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/executive-order-9066 | title=Executive Order 9066: Resulting in Japanese-American Incarceration (1942) | date=22 September 2021 }}</ref>

In the 21st century, [[John Yoo]], attorney and legal theorist, has offered a theory of the [[unitary executive]] for massive authority of the US president, in his capacity as [[commander-in-chief]] of the armed forces. Yoo provided the intellectual foundation for many of the actions undertaken by the [[George W. Bush administration]] in the aftermath of the [[September 11 attacks|attacks of September 11, 2001]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://lawreview.uchicago.edu/print-archive/unitary-executive-or-both | title=Unitary, Executive, or Both? &#124; the University of Chicago Law Review }}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Rule by decree]]
* [[Emergency powers]]
* [[Constitutional monarchy]]
* [[Democratic backsliding]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

;General
* Rossiter, Clinton, ''Constitutional Dictatorship: Crisis Government in Modern Democracies'' (Princeton University Press 1948; Reprinted by Rossiter Press 2007)
* Yoo, John, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=PBXVrnmh5_cC&q=Constitutional+dictatorship The Powers of War and Peace: The Constitution and Foreign Affairs After 9/11]'' (University of Chicago Press 2005)

{{Authoritarian types of rule}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Constitutional Dictatorship}}
[[Category:Authoritarianism]]
[[Category:Constitutional law]]
[[Category:Dictatorship]]
[[Category:Emergency laws]]


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